wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114A new app called Tapestry promising to unify social media, news, and RSS in one place, is nearing completion. Designed by Iconfactory, the same team that created the third-party Twitter client Twitterific back in the day, Tapestry was unveiled at the beginning of the year as a tool that could better organize today’s fragmented online media, allowing users to track their favorite blogs, news sites, and social networks from a single app. This week, the company announced an update on Tapestry’s progress, saying that it planned to officially launch the app to the public in “early 2025.”
“Obviously the sooner the better, but there’s still some important work to be done and bugs to be squashed,” the update on the project’s Patreon page noted.
Instead of raising from outside investors, Iconfactory has been crowdfunding Tapestry’s development. To date, over 3360 backers pledged north of $177,800 to bring the app to life.
The app will appeal to people who are tired of trying to keep up with multiple sites, blogs, and social media services by constantly opening new browser tabs and switching apps. It also capitalizes users being frustrated that there are now too many Twitter clones.
Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now called X, there has been an explosion of interest in new Twitter-like services, including apps like Mastodon and Bluesky, built on open protocols, and Meta’s Threads, which is working to integrate with ActivityPub, the same protocol powering Mastodon. (Other smaller apps like T2/Pebble, Post, and Cohost, have since shut down.)
As a result of these experiments in a more open social web, there’s potential for new user experiences designed to browse these different services, app developers believe.
Just this week Flipboard launched its own take on what a browser for the open web should look like, with the launch of an app called Surf that lets you track RSS, Bluesky, and Mastodon content in a single app.
It’s not the only company thinking about this.
Besides Iconfactory, the developer behind the popular Mac and iOS newsreader Reeder, Silvio Rizzi, reinvented his app to expand beyond RSS to include support for other social services, like Mastodon, Bluesky, YouTube, Reddit, and others. Another indie app called Feeeed also expanded this year to allow users to track RSS, newsletters, Mastodon, Tumblr, Reddit, and others. And this week, Feeeed added support for Bluesky, too. Plus, an app called Openvibe lets you browse Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads in one place.
Despite their similar premises, each app offers a different user interface and experience. While Reeder still look and feels much like an RSS reader, others seem more like social experiences of their own.
Tapestry is interesting as it tries to straddle both worlds, allowing users to track their favorite websites and blogs, or even import RSS feeds en masse via an OPML file, while also connecting to a variety of social sources. Today, the beta version of the app supports Mastodon and Bluesky, as well as webcomics, social apps like Reddit, Tumblr, and YouTube as well as sources for weather and earthquake alerts — events X is still often used to track.
However, Tapestry isn’t just about cramming everything into one interface. Its real strength lies in allowing people to create their own custom feeds (or “timelines”) where they can pick and choose which sources — like social sites, websites, blogs, podcasts and more — are included. You can also use tools like “mute” and “muffle,” borrowed from Twitterific, to configure whether or not posts with certain keywords are blocked entirely or collapsed (muffled) when shown.
There are a number of other customization tools that will appeal to power users who like to build feeds, too.
However, one point of confusion with the current build is that Tapestry separates sources (like RSS feeds or social apps) into two sections called “feeds” and “connectors” — the former to fill your timeline with content and the latter to create other feeds to populate your timeline. Some services, like Mastodon and Bluesky, can appear in both sections if you add them. We’d prefer a combined section just called “sources.”
Still, it’s easy to see how you might use Tapestry to keep up with multiple social services alongside breaking news and new posts from your favorite sources, as an alternative to browsing X.
Iconfactory hasn’t yet shared an exact launch date for Tapestry, but the app will generate revenue by way of monthly and annual subscriptions.
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Instagram head Adam Mosseri is teasing upcoming generative AI features for the social app that will allow creators to “change nearly any aspect” of their videos using text prompts. The editing tools will be powered by Meta’s Movie Gen AI model, and are expected to launch on the social network sometime next year, Mosseri said in a video shared on Thursday.
“We’re working on some really exciting AI tools for you video creators out there,” Mosseri said. “A lot of you make amazing content that makes Instagram what it is and we want to give you more tools to help realize your ideas. And you should be able to do anything you want with your videos. You should be able to change your outfit or change the context in which you’re sitting, or add a chain, whatever you can think of,” he added.
The video previews the AI editing features that Mosseri is teasing, including the ability to change your outfit, alter your background environment, add jewelry, and change your overall appearance.
For instance, in one scene, Mosseri’s background changes to a snowy atmosphere, and in another, he transforms into a puppet-like, animated version of himself.
While the previews look clean and seamless, it’s unknown if the user-facing editing tools will render the same sort of results once launched.
When Meta unveiled Movie Gen back in October, the company said the model allows you to use simple text inputs to create videos and sounds and edit existing videos. Meta said at the time that the AI video generator wouldn’t be publicly available. Today’s announcement reveals that Meta will be leveraging the model to give creators on Instagram more AI editing tools for their videos.
It’s worth noting that Meta unveiled Movie Gen months after OpenAI and Adobe debuted similar models. OpenAI’s Sora launched to some users earlier this month, and Adobe started letting some users test its Firefly video generator in October.
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The European Commission has published draft proposals for how Apple must meet interoperability requirements flowing from the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) — inviting feedback on proposed measures targeted at areas like iOS notifications, data transfer, and device set-up by January 9, 2025.
European Union regulators then have until around mid March to adopt final decisions on what measures the bloc will expect Apple to take, and by when, to deliver access for rivals as the DMA demands.
Apple’s iOS, iPadOS, App Store and Safari web browser are all subject to to the regulation which aims to boost competition by enabling third parties to plug their own services into dominant platforms. But the current interoperability proceedings focus on Apple’s mobile operating systems, iOS and iPadOS.
Back in September the Commission announced two “specification proceedings” to determine how the interoperability rules should be applied to Apple’s core platforms. On Thursday it published the preliminary results and kicked off two consultations: One on “proposed measures for interoperability between Apple’s iOS operating system and connected devices“; and a second on “proposed measures for requesting interoperability with Apple’s iOS and iPadOS operating systems“.
Among the requirements being proposed for Apple are measures intended to achieve “effective interoperability” with iOS Notifications; background execution; automatic audio switching; data transfer features including high-bandwidth p2p wi-fi connection, Airdrop, Airplay, close-range wireless file transfer services, and media casting; features for device-set up and configuration such as proximity-triggered pairing, automatic wi-fi connection, and the NFC controller.
The Commission also wants Apple to improve the request-based process it has set up for third parties to seek interoperability with iOS and iPadOS — which the second proceeding deals with.
Proposed measures here include actions that aim to boost transparency around iOS and iPadOS features and functionalities that are currently reserved for Apple (such as by providing information on libraries, frameworks and daemons); support for developers who are interested in interoperability to boost the effectiveness and transparency of the request process itself, including measures to improve communications and feedback around requests, and around any rejections, as well as the structure of a conciliation process to handle disagreements; as well as measures geared towards futureproofing interoperability through interoperability by design; and measures to give greater clarity around the timeline for interoperability requests to be actioned by Apple to drive predictability and accountability for developers requesting access.
Reached for comment, Apple spokesman Tom Parker emailed a five-page report setting out the company’s response to the proposals — in which Apple suggests abuse of DMA interoperability requirements could harm users privacy as it warns: “Data-hungry companies across the globe may weaponize interoperability.”
Apple’s lobbying document also hits out at Meta, specifically — accusing the adtech giant of making many and over-broad DMA access requests, as we reported earlier.
Parker also highlighted the following line in which Apple wrote: “The magical experiences people love about Apple products are made possible because of the time, talent and capital the company dedicates to creating products that work right out of the box. These processes will hurt innovation — companies should be able to compete with one another to make their own products work together in new ways that benefit users without giving their ideas away to competitors. Apple is the only company being forced to share its innovations in this way with everyone else, including those who do not share its commitment to user privacy.”
In the report, Apple suggests it has often provided developers with access to the same tools in iOS and iPadOS that it has but argues it’s “incredibly important” for interoperability to be “done in a way that’s right for our users”.
“That is why, every single time we open developer access to functionalities, we give careful thought to how to do it in a way that continues to protect users,” Apple also claims, adding: “Without the right protections, giving third parties access to parts of users’ devices could open up ways for bad actors to steal or expose their personal information.”
The Commission’s consultation on the first specification proceeding notes that it’s particularly seeking technical views on the effectiveness of the proposed measures for interoperability between iOS and connected devices, including effectiveness in practice, completeness, feasibility and views on its proposed timelines for Apple to implement the measures.
Regarding the second consultation the EU also wants feedback on timelines and, more broadly, whether the proposed measures achieve their objective; and, if not, how they might be improved.
“The Commission will carefully assess the feedback provided by interested parties and Apple. The input received may result in adjustments to the proposed measures and will feed into the Commission’s decision on the legally binding final measures applying to Apple,” the EU added.
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Threads is introducing a new way to reshare photos and videos on its social network. Instead of quote-posting the original post and then adding commentary, Threads users will instead be able to click a new option, “Use media,” allowing them to just reshare the photo or video directly to a new post where they can add their own text. The image or video will still be credited to the original poster, however.
The feature was announced on Wednesday by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a post on Threads. He noted that the new option would be a “quick, easy way to add your creative takes to trending images.”
A post from the Threads account also indicated that the attribution to the original poster would appear on the top left of the image.
To access the option to “Use media,” you can long-press on any media published on Threads or you can tap on the repost button. It will then appear as a new option in the pop-up window below “Repost” and “Quote.”
If you aren’t yet seeing the feature, you should soon; Mosseri’s post says it’s rolling out to the Threads user base. He doesn’t describe the feature as something the company is testing, but says that user feedback is welcome.
Not everyone has responded positively to the introduction, however, with some creators replying to Mosseri’s post to ask if they can turn this setting off. These users noted that not all creators want their images reshared in this way, particularly because it may allow others to capture traffic and attention for their work without putting in any effort.
Threads’ account responded to those queries, noting that users can turn off media reuse in the app’s settings. Users can also use quote-post controls to decide who is able to reuse the media you share, the company said.
Updated after publication with more information on the settings/controls for the feature.
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The global app economy continued to recover in 2024, after an earlier slowdown in 2022 — at least in terms of consumer spending. In 2024, global consumer spending in mobile apps and games reached $127 billion across the App Store and Google Play, up 15.7% from the prior year. However, those increases were driven by Apple’s App Store, as Google Play spending declined, according to new data from app intelligence firm Appfigures.
Though spending was up, there was another worrying sign about the overall health of the app ecosystem. This year, global app downloads were down by 2.3%, compared with 2023, reaching nearly 110 billion. This downward trend was seen across both app stores, the data indicates.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen signs that the app ecosystem’s massive growth may be finally starting to level out. As the app economy matures, the more recent focus has been on extracting revenue from the apps consumers are already using via ongoing subscriptions, rather than driving them to download new apps or paid apps.
Of note, only 5% of apps worldwide offered subscriptions last year, but they accounted for 48% of the app revenue across both app stores, Appfigures found. In addition, the top 10 earning apps globally generated 13.7% of all consumer spending, up 1.2% from 12.5% in 2023.
Meanwhile, much of the innovation taking place today is in the field of AI — a trend Apple largely snubbed when picking its overall App of the Year over the past couple of years. The award went to video app Kino and hiking app AllTrails in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Declining app downloads, meanwhile, was a trend seen across both app marketplaces.
Of the total 110 billion downloads in 2024, iOS downloads accounted for 28.3 billion installs, a decline of 1.1% year-over-year. Android app downloads on Google Play were down 2.6% to 81.4 billion. Last year, app downloads were largely flat, another report had found.
In part, the decline in downloads also has to do with how Apple and Google Play managed their app stores in 2024.
Google, in particular, cracked down on spam and other low-quality apps this past year, leading to a significant 60% reduction in the release of new apps on Google Play. This was likely driven by increased requirements for developers around app testing and app review.
The U.S. also helped push the larger global trend down, as U.S. iOS downloads declined 5.3% to 6.1 billion and U.S. Google Play app downloads dropped 0.7% to 4.4 billion. In total, U.S. app downloads declined by 3.4% in the year, reaching approximately 10.6 billion.
Instagram, not TikTok, was the most downloaded app in 2024 with close to 640 million installs. It was also the most searched-for app in the U.S. Along with Instagram, other top social apps including Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok were also searched for more than X in 2024.
However, Temu was the most downloaded app in the U.S. with 48 million installs, Appfigures found. Apple recently confirmed it was the U.S.’s most-downloaded app on its App Store, too.
Mexico saw the biggest increase in app downloads in 2024, with 225 million more installs than in 2023.
In terms of revenue, the app economy is still making money for developers and app stores alike — at least on the Apple App Store.
Of the $127 billion in total consumer spending globally in 2024, $91.6 billion came from the App Store, up 24% year-over-year. Google Play consumer spending declined by 1.5% year-over-year to reach $35.7 billion globally.
The U.S. accounted for a large portion of that overall pie, as $47.6 billion in consumer spending came from users in the U.S., up 11% year-over-year. (The Apple App Store accounted for $34.4 billion of that U.S. figure, up 18.4%, while Google Play’s U.S. revenue declined 4.7% to reach $13.2 billion in 2024.)
By consumer spending, the top app globally was TikTok, with an estimated $2.5 billion across iOS and Android, not counting app stores in China. TikTok was also the top app in the U.S., drawing in nearly $1.3 billion.
Brazil was the fastest-growing market for consumer spending, up 73% year-over-year.
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Alphabet’s Wing announced on Wednesday that it’s expanding its partnership with DoorDash to bring drone delivery to customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Customers in the area will now be able to order food from 50 merchants located in Stonebriar Centre in Frisco and Hulen Mall in Fort Worth.
Wing says its drones can “deliver items and meals to doorsteps in as little as 15 minutes.” The drones can navigate to the customer’s residence at a speed of 65 mph and a cruising height of about 150 feet.
When customers with an eligible address in Dallas-Fort Worth place an order in the DoorDash app, they will now see the option to have their food delivered by drone. You can check if you have an eligible address on Wing’s website. Wing notes that smaller orders are more likely to be eligible for drone delivery and that your order may be delivered by more than one drone if all of your items can’t fit on a single one.
Wing and DoorDash launched their drone delivery pilot in the U.S. in March, giving customers in Christiansburg, Virginia, the option to order food from their local Wendy’s. Wing has operated in the U.S. since 2019.
DoorDash first partnered with Wing back in 2022 when the two companies launched drone deliveries in Australia. Wing has completed more than 400,000 commercial deliveries worldwide.
“Wing’s partnership with DoorDash is guided by the shared goal of providing customers with the convenience and speed of air deliveries for the local products and brands they know and love,” the company wrote in a press release.
It’s worth noting that Wing also has drone deliver partnerships with other companies in the U.S., including Walmart and Walgreens.
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